Ethical questions surround Lincoln request

Our 16th and certainly one of the most respected presidents, Abraham Lincoln, was shot 144 years ago today. He died the next morning (4.15.1865) but his legacy and the controversy surrounding him grew larger with the years. Did he have a rare, genetic cancer that would have killed him eventually? Was he the illegitimate son of Abraham Enloe of North Carolina, not Thomas Lincoln? It’s the speculation people write books about and no president has been written about more than Lincoln. Nowadays we have DNA testing that can reveal volumes. To prevent theft of the body, Robert Todd Lincoln had his father’s remains exhumed and re-interred in several feet of concrete and steel in 1901. He asked that his dad be allowed to rest in peace. There is, however, other sources of DNA — like the pillow the dying president’s wounded head rested on, which has blood and brain matter stains. Edward Colimore of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports the board of the Grand Army of the Republic Museum and Library, which owns the fragment of pillow case, will decide whether to allow DNA testing.

As a journalist, I promote investigation, research and digging because, as the Bible says in John 8:32, “… the truth shall make you free”. As an admirer of the eloquent- spoken man who saved the union and freed large numbers of people, I wonder if the questions that could be answered are worth overriding the ethical considerations of Robert Todd Lincoln’s understandable wishes. Does it matter now who his father was or whether he had a terminal illness? What do you think?

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About Bob Ingle

Bob Ingle is Senior Political Columnist for Gannett New Jersey newspapers and co-author of The New York Times' Best Seller, "The Soprano State: New Jersey's Culture of Corruption" and "Chris Christie: The Inside Story Of His Rise To Power". He has won numerous journalism awards and is often a news analyst on radio and television. Twitter @ bobingle99.

2 Responses to Ethical questions surround Lincoln request

Bob,
I do not think that the DNA testing should be carried out. What possible benefit could be derived from the DNA testing of President Lincoln. Will this information in any way shape or form chnage the accomplishments of our sixteenth president. I do not believe they will and therefore would not be of any value. In these trying times we need to heal our economy and solve the other problems that we as a society face. The blemishing of the Lincoln’s name would server no purpose.

When I was a child my grandparents took me to Lincon’s gravesite in Springfield, IL. Even at that young age I recall being overwhelmed by the reverence and respect given to our 16th President in death by the visitors. Why does it have to change? It will not change his life, his presidency, or his legacy. All it will do is make a few conspiracy authors some bucks while they speculate and trash the man. I guess I was raised not to speak ill of the dead and to let them rest in peace. Too bad that is becoming a lost concept these days.

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Bob Ingle, Senior Political Columnist for Gannett New Jersey newspapers, on politics in "The Soprano State".

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Bob IngleBob Ingle is Senior Political Columnist for Gannett New Jersey Newspapers and co-author of The New York Times' Best Seller, "The Soprano State: New Jersey's Culture of Corruption." Hear him Fridays at 5 p.m. on www.tommygshow.com radio. twitter.com/bobingle99 E-mail Bob

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"Chris Christie: The Inside Story of His Rise to Power," written by Bob Ingle and Michael Symons, offers the first inside portrait of New Jersey’s governor, who in two years as governor emerged as a national Republican Party figure famous for his blunt public statements. The book details Christie’s combative public persona and deep family roots, tracing his improbable political rise from a bruising stint in county government to his anti-corruption crusade as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. Chris Christie: The Inside Story of His Rise to Power goes behind the scenes to reveal his family life, his public life, and what the future might hold..

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"The Soprano State," written by Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure, details the you-couldn't-make-this-up true story of the corruption that has pervaded New Jersey politics, government, and business for the past thirty years. From Jimmy Hoffa purportedly being buried somewhere beneath the end zone in Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands, through allegations of a thoroughly corrupt medical and dental university, through Mafia influence at all levels, to a governor who suddenly declares himself a “gay American” and resigns, the Garden State might indeed be better named after the HBO mobsters.

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